HEA acts against P. xylostella via adenosine receptors

The diamondback moth, <i>Plutella xylostella,</i> is one of the most important pests of cruciferous crops. We have earlier shown that N⁶-(2-hydroxyethyl)-adenosine (HEA) exhibits insecticidal activity against <i>P. xylostella</i>. In the present study we investigated the possible mechanism of insecticidal action of HEA on <i>P. xylostella</i>. HEA is a derivative of adenosine, therefore, we speculated whether it acts via <i>P. xylostella</i> adenosine receptor (<i>PxAdoR</i>). We used RNAi approach to silence <i>PxAdoR</i><i> </i>gene and used antagonist of denosine receptor (AdoR) to study the insecticidal effect of HEA. We cloned the<i> </i>whole sequence of <i>PxAdoR</i> gene.